Misunderstandings
by GlitterCyborgPrincess
Summary: Something's been bothering Nozaki, particularly regarding a common accusation from his friends.


Misunderstandings

I do not own Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

"So, about Sakura..."

"Yes?" Mikoshiba looked up from his assigned pages and turned to face his friend behind him. They'd been working in silence all afternoon. The girl-in-question stayed behind for Art Club, leaving Nozaki's apartment quiet.

Nozaki hummed contemplatively. "Judging on our friendship...and the reactions of the others at school...I've come to a troubling dilemma." Mikoshiba braced himself. This was the moment of truth; it had to be. Nozaki, however, remained perfectly clueless of his friend's anticipation. He slid his head to his desk and crushed his manuscript beneath his cheek. "_Am I actually a lolicon_?!"

"NO!" Certainly, he heard wrong? These words did _not_ come out of Nozaki's mouth? Nozaki, whose idea of love was very clean and manga-magazine worthy. How could his mind have wandered into illegal territories?

"But-" Nozaki turned limply to his friend. All evidence pointed otherwise.

"No!" Mikoshiba groaned, pulling his hands over his face. This was a step backward. Scratch that-a million steps back. "What made you even _think _that?"

Nozaki thought for a moment. The first time he was ever accused of it...was shortly after he enlisted Sakura as an assistant. "Well, lolicon means someone who likes little girls. And Seo and Kashima said-"

He should have seen that coming. Mikoshiba jumped up, stopping him from continuing. "Stop there, that's the problem." He almost fell back to the ground at the effort but he managed to avoid the embarrassment with his frustration alone. "You're listening to the wrong people."

"And the right people would be?"

Mikoshiba hesitated. He couldn't say himself; he was an otaku, and therefore, untrustworthy by nature. Especially people like him, whose entire 'dating life' had been strictly 2D. Luckily, they did know more 'normal' people with more 'normal' outlooks. "Hori-senpai? Wakamatsu-san? Literally anyone else?"

Nozaki paused. He couldn't ask Wakamatsu-all of his advice came from manga. He was almost as bad as Mikoshiba. And outside of his assistant's circle, there weren't many people he felt confident enough to discuss the topic's nature with. Which left him exactly one option. "I'll ask Hori-san."

_Ask him _what,_ though? _But he couldn't ask. Nozaki already had the phone pressed to his ear. Despite the fact Hori was supposed to be in rehearsal, he picked up on the second ring. It was Nozaki, after all. It was better to answer right away than let him do something stupid for the sake of research. "Does being friends with Sakura make me a lolicon?" Nozaki asked, no greeting, no pretense. Just straight to the question. Exactly like Nozaki always did when something bothered him.

"How do I feel? About Sakura?" Nozaki remained quiet for a moment. Mikoshiba leaned forward as if it might help his dense friend come to the right conclusion. Nozaki's face brightened. "She's my best friend and close colleague!" He chirped.

Hori's frustration could be heard through the phone as a set piece could be heard crashing to the ground. It didn't faze Nozaki. Because of course it didn't. Instead, he just listened to the stilted reply with rapt attention. "Thank you!" Nozaki cheered, clipping his phone shut. He turned back to Mikoshiba with a smile. "Hori-san says I'm not a lolicon because I'm not in love with Sakura, so we're safe."

_That didn't sound right._ Somehow, that felt more like Kashima's kind of reasoning than Hori's. Unless... Either Hori was becoming weak due to his affections for Kashima or Nozaki completely misunderstood what he was told. Both were too plausible for comfort. "What did he say exactly?" Mikoshiba asked calmly, taking a deep breath and preparing for the worst.

"That because Sakura is my age and not a pre-pubescent child and not someone I'm in love with, I can't possibly be a lolicon!" He smiled thoughtfully and turned back to his work. _This was better than he'd thought_! "I just have to make sure I don't fall in love with her!"

"I give up." Mikoshiba slammed his head against the coffee table. Nozaki took the exact wrong message from Hori's explanation. The part he needed to focus on was that Sakura was _not a child_. Somehow, Mikoshiba knew he was going to be having this same exact conversation whenever Nozaki took his head out of his ass as realized that he loved Sakura.

And who knew how long that would take.


End file.
